The goal of this symposium is to bring together leading physicists and cell biologists into one panel to capture the cutting edge of microscopy. Imaging is an interdisciplinary endeavor that marries expertise and innovation in physics, computer science, and applied mathematics, with challenging questions in cell and organism assembly. We are beginning to understand the basis for cell organization at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution through the creative application of fundamental physics to microscopy. For example, the development of super-resolution imaging methods has enabled nanometer positioning of single molecules in cells, the bioengineering and application of novel fluorescent proteins has allowed the charting of organelle dynamics, and the exploitation of polarization in microscopes has led to analysis of order or disorder in biomolecular complexes. Importantly, development of in vivo imaging has led to analysis of single-cell behavior in the context of intact tissues, metastasizing tumors, or microbial infection. This symposium will help motivate the next phase of interdisciplinary approaches to advance the visualization of life. In bringing together physicists and biologists, we will examine the current edge of imaging that is remodeling our own understanding of the organization of life from the scale of a single molecule to the whole organism.